Bill Gates believes that governments should have the power to unlock any phone

At the end of 2015, 14 people died in the San Bernardino attack. One of the terrorists had an iPhone 5c and the FBI asked Apple to allow them to access the information on the mobile phone.

Faced with the refusal, the FBI had to pay $ 900,000 to an external company to unlock it. In an interview with Axios , Bill Gates believes that technology companies should behave differently.

“It’s not a matter of skill, it’s a matter of disposition”

Without specifically mentioning this case, it seems that Gates would have allowed the Government of the United States to access the iPhone 5c . He declares that “it is not a question of ability” to unblock him, “it is a question of disposition”.

Although he did not cite it explicitly, Gates was obviously alluding to the San Bernardino case. He criticized companies that ” are excited to make financial transactions anonymous and invisible , and their view that even the communication of a mass murderer should never be available to the government.”

Gates has taken the opportunity to warn all technology companies , judging those companies that believe that their vision can be above state agencies:

“Technology companies have to be careful not to try to think that their vision is more important than the government’s vision, or that the government is not able to operate in certain key areas.”

In addition, Gates says he is concerned that technology may be empowering “small groups with bad intentions . ” It states that they could have access to “nuclear weapons, or even worse, bioterrorist weapons or cyber-weapons.”

Obviously, it is a very complex issue. Following the reference to weapons, we see how technology is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it has improved many aspects of our lives in a few decades, but at the same time it can be used against us by groups or people who seek to do as much damage as possible.